Valentina Shevchenko fires back at fans upser over TUF 32 coach choices: ‘They hate everyone, it’s in their hearts’

Valentina Shevchenko hits out at fans over TUF 32 coaching they hate everyone it's in their heartsValentina Shevchenko has fired back at fans over her and Alexa Grasso being the coaches of The Ultimate Fighter….

Valentina Shevchenko hits out at fans over TUF 32 coaching they hate everyone it's in their hearts

Valentina Shevchenko has fired back at fans over her and Alexa Grasso being the coaches of The Ultimate Fighter.

Shevchenko and Grasso will coach TUF 32 which features middleweights and featherweights. After the coaches were announced, some fans were disappointed in the selection as they felt the UFC should have gotten bigger names to coach the show.

Alexa Grasso faces off with Valentina Shevchenko ahead of The Ultimate Fighter 32 this summer

Valentina Shevchenko hits out at fans regarding TUF 32

However, Valentina Shevchenko was disappointed with that as she believes she and Alexa Grasso make great coaches for TUF 32.

The Ultimate Fighter 32: Alexa Grasso set to coach against Valentina Shevchenko premiere set for June 4th.

“I think they have this kind of cliche … have this thing of it’s coming from way back before, from the very, very past and they cannot get rid of that. But we are in new era,” Shevchenko said at TUF 32 media day (via MMAMania). “We are in new modern days. It’s different now. It’s different than it was 10 years ago. It’s different than it was 20 years ago. Now it’s now and now it’s different, but they are still bringing that from years ago.

“This is not true, they have to change their mindset,” Shevchenko continued. “Also, I imagine that so many people, they just don’t care [about] anything. They just want to bring hate. They hate everyone and this hate, it’s just inside of their hearts. This is wrong. This is very wrong. They have to focus on the positive things. You kind of see when a person expresses themselves through the bad words, you kind of see what’s happening inside of them. So, it’s just a matter of personal things, and I think it’s if they try to focus on something beautiful it might change their understanding of how words work.”

With Valentina Shevchenko and Alexa Grasso coaching TUF 32, it sets them up to have their trilogy match later this year, with many expecting it to be on Mexican Independence Day at The Sphere.

Alexa Grasso vs. Valentina Shevchenko title rematch targeted for UFC event on September 16.
Mandatory Credit: Zuffa LLC

Shevchenko and Grasso last fought back in September with the two fighting to a draw. Before that, it was the Mexican who submitted Shevchenko at UFC 285 to win the women’s flyweight title in one of the biggest upsets in recent memory.

TUF 32 — starring Valentina Shevchenko begins filming this week

Video – Alexa Grasso faces off with Valentina Shevchenko ahead of TUF 32 showdown this summer

Alexa Grasso faces off with Valentina Shevchenko ahead of The Ultimate Fighter 32 this summerAlexa Grasso and Valentina Shevchenko come face-to-face ahead of the Ultimate Fighter 32 showdown. Last weekend the UFC announced…

Alexa Grasso faces off with Valentina Shevchenko ahead of The Ultimate Fighter 32 this summer

Alexa Grasso and Valentina Shevchenko come face-to-face ahead of the Ultimate Fighter 32 showdown.

Last weekend the UFC announced that Grasso and Shevchenko would be coaching against one another on Season 32 of TUF, which is set to begin airing at the beginning of June. Grasso snapped Shevchenko’s legendary flyweight title reign last March after submitting ‘Bullet’ in the fourth round of their UFC 285 clash. The pair would rematch six months later which resulted in a draw, leaving their rivalry without a solid conclusion. The pair are set to fight following the conclusion of the show, but no official date has been outlined. 

The Ultimate Fighter 32: Alexa Grasso set to coach against Valentina Shevchenko premiere set for June 4th.

With the announcement UFC CEO Dana White described the pair as ‘two of the most badass women on the planet’. 

“We have just confirmed the coaches for season 32 of The Ultimate Fighter, and it will be UFC women’s flyweight champion Alexa Grasso and former champion Valentina Shevchenko,” White said. “I don’t have to tell you, but these are two of the most badass women on the planet and this should be a very fun season,” 

“[Alexa] Grasso became the first Mexican UFC women’s champ after defeating [Valentina] Shevchenko and their last fight resulted in a draw. Before their last two fights, Valentina had successfully defended the belt seven times.”

Valentina Shevchenko set for hand surgery ahead of trilogy fight with Alexa Grasso UFC
Mandatory Credit: Zuffa LLC

What is going to be on the TUF 32: Alexa Grasso vs. Valentina Shevchenko season?

Along with the coaches the UFC announced the cast of the upcoming season and it will feature eight fighters from both featherweight and middleweight. There is talent from North and South America such as Edwin Cooper Jr, Guillermo Torres and Mairon Santos

Alexa Grasso retains flyweight title in split draw against Valentina Shevchenko Noche UFC highlights
Mandatory Credit: Chris Unger – Zuffa LLC

 It will also feature a significant amount of European-based talents such as Nathan Fletcher, Omran Chaaban and Paddy McCorry.

Have you picked some early winners for TUF 32?

UFC’s Alexa Grasso, Valentina Shevchenko Named The Ultimate Fighter Season 32 Coaches

UFC president Dana White announced Friday that Alexa Grasso and Valentina Shevchenko will serve as the coaches for Season 32 of The Ultimate Fighter.…

UFC president Dana White announced Friday that Alexa Grasso and Valentina Shevchenko will serve as the coaches for Season 32 of The Ultimate Fighter.…

The Ultimate Fighter 32: Alexa Grasso set to coach against Valentina Shevchenko, new season premieres in June

The Ultimate Fighter 32: Alexa Grasso set to coach against Valentina Shevchenko premiere set for June 4th.On International Women’s Day, UFC CEO, Dana White has confirmed how undisputed flyweight champion, Alexa Grasso, and former division…

The Ultimate Fighter 32: Alexa Grasso set to coach against Valentina Shevchenko premiere set for June 4th.

On International Women’s Day, UFC CEO, Dana White has confirmed how undisputed flyweight champion, Alexa Grasso, and former division champion, Valentina Shevchenko will serve as opposing coaches on The Ultimate Fighter 32 this year, which is set for a premiere on ESPN later this summer.

Grasso, the current undisputed flyweight champion and current pound-for-pound number one fighter on the promotion’s books, has been sidelined since she retained her crown in a split decision draw against the aforenoted, Shevchenko in the pair’s Noche UFC rematch back in September of last year.

Noche UFC

The result came off the back of a shocking upset win for Mexican favorite, Grasso, who submitted dominant gold holder, Shevchenko in the co-main event of UFC 285 last March, crowning herself as the undisputed flyweight champion and snapping the former’s dominant roughshod run through the division.

The Ultimate Fighter 32 sees Grasso paired with Shevchenko

And this Friday afternoon, the above-mentioned White confirmed that The Ultimate Fighter 32 is set to air on ESPN this summer, starting on June 4. – with Grasso serving as an opposing head coach against kickboxing star, Shevchenko – ahead of an expected trilogy title fight between the streaking duo.

“Happy International Women’s Day!” Dana White posted on his official X account today. “#TheUltimateFighter32 coaches will be @AlexaGrasso and @BulletValentina premiering June 4th on @ESPN@ @UltimateFighter.” 

Last year, the promotion showcased a series of The Ultimate Fighter 31 – with former duel-division champion, Conor McGregor squaring off with former lightweight title chaser, Michael Chandler, ahead of an end-of-season fight – which has still yet to materialize at the time of publication.

The latest edition of The Utimate Fighter saw Brad Katona land a decison win over Cody Gibson to become a two-time winner of the tournament at the bantamweight limit, whilst Kurt Holobaugh submitted Austin Hubbard in the pair’s tournament finale at the lightweight limit to win.

Which coach will prevail come the end of The Ultimate Fighter 32?

The UFC’s EA Sports Cover Curse Claims Another Victim

UFCThe infamous UFC cover curse strikes again. If you’re a football fan, you’re likely familiar with the “Madden” curse…

UFC

The infamous UFC cover curse strikes again.

If you’re a football fan, you’re likely familiar with the “Madden” curse where the player featured on the cover of EA Sports’ annual NFL game is doomed to encounter something bad — poor luck, a decline in play, or maybe a serious injury. Over the last decade, it’s become apparent that the curse is not exclusive to players on the gridiron.

On June 3, 2014, EA Sports released its first UFC game in the beloved series and fans immediately noticed the notorious trend when the OG cover athletes, Jon Jones and Alexander Gustafsson found themselves in some unfavorable situations shortly after appearing on the cover. ‘The Mauler’ would go on to suffer a vicious knockout at the hands of the late Anthony ‘Rumble’ Johnson in his home country while ‘Bones’ ended up testing positive for cocaine and was inevitably stripped of the light heavyweight title following his involvement in a hit-and-run accident in 2015.

The UFC curse would amass quite the victim count in the years that followed, bringing bad luck to megastars Ronda Rousey and Conor McGregor. UFC 4 cover athlete Jorge Masvidal kept the trend going via a nasty knockout loss at the hands of Kamaru Usman as part of a four-fight losing streak that would ultimately see ‘Gamebred’ retire from the sport altogether.

In its most destructive year yet, the still-to-be-released UFC 5 game from EA Sports has already claimed three victims.

The UFC Cover Curse Claims Three Victims in Six Weeks

Earlier this year, Valentina Shevchenko and Alexander Volkanovski were revealed to be the cover athletes for the game series’ latest entry scheduled to be released on October 27. Since the announcement, Shevchenko fought to a draw with current flyweight world champion Alexa Grasso in September while Volkanovski has lost to lightweight titleholder Islam Makhachev not once, but twice in 2023.

Israel Adesanya, who features as the cover athlete on the deluxe edition of the game, surrendered the middleweight title for the second time in less than a year after losing a lopsided unanimous decision against Sean Strickland at UFC 293.

Of course, Saturday night gave us the most recent example as reigning featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski came up short for the second time in his bid to become a two-division titleholder. Stepping into the UFC 294 main event on 11 days’ notice, ‘The Great’ suffered a brutal first-round knockout after Islam Makhachev landed a perfectly-timed head kick near the three-minute mark. The ‘Dagestani Destroyer’ followed up the vicious blow with a series of ground-and-pound strikes that ultimately spelled the end of the highly anticipated rematch.

Volkanovski has now lost two of his last three fights and will likely slide to No. 3 on the UFC’s coveted pound-for-pound ranking list behind top-ranked Jon Jones and Makhachev who should slide into the No. 2 spot.

Alexa Grasso undergoes hand surgery, announces plans for third fight with Valentina Shevchenko: ‘I will be ready’

Alexa Grasso hand surgery ready for a trilogy title fight with Valentina Shevchenko in UFCUndisputed flyweight champion, Alexa Grasso has successfully undergone surgery to address a fracture suffered in her right hand, and is already preparing for an expected trilogy championship clash with former titleholder and arch-rival, Valentina Shevchenko. Grasso, the incumbent undisputed flyweight champion and pound-for-pound number one, most recently headlined Noche UFC back in September in an […]

Alexa Grasso hand surgery ready for a trilogy title fight with Valentina Shevchenko in UFC

Undisputed flyweight champion, Alexa Grasso has successfully undergone surgery to address a fracture suffered in her right hand, and is already preparing for an expected trilogy championship clash with former titleholder and arch-rival, Valentina Shevchenko.

Grasso, the incumbent undisputed flyweight champion and pound-for-pound number one, most recently headlined Noche UFC back in September in an immediate title rematch with Krgysztan native, Shevchenko.

And emerging with her championship belt in tow, Mexican favorite, Grasso retained her title in a hugely-controversial and debated split decision draw with Shevchenko – with the two battling for five rounds.

Scooping the divisional crown in a massive upset victory at UFC 285 back in March in the pair’s co-headliner, Grasso rallied to submit Shevchenko with a third round neck crank, minting herself as flyweight champion for the first time in her organizational tenure.

Alexa Grasso undergoes surgery on fractured hand

Immediately pegged to fight Shevchenko in a trilogy title fight, Grasso has emerged from surgery to address a fracture to her right hand, and has vowed to enter her planned third scrap with the ex-champion fully prepared.

“What are the odds huh?” Alexa Grasso posted on her official Instagram account. “In the fight I fractured my hand, we are used to not letting the pain stop us in anything and although in hurt I didn’t think it was serious until I wanted to go back to training and I realized my hand was still very bad.”

“The surgery was a success thank you very much Doctor Arroyo and Doctor Zarate, you are angels,” Alexa Grasso continued. “I fully trust my healt in your hands #ANDSTILL and I know I will be MEGA ready for that trilogy.” 

Who wins in a third fight: Alexa Grasso or Valentina Shevchenko?